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Published October 31, 2006 at 8:48 AM PST

This story was published more than 17 years ago.

What sorts of religious freedom issues are involved with Halloween? There are plenty. These Days legal analyst looks at the politics of Halloween, plus the latest on the Mt. Soledad War Memorial and

Tom Fudge: With a lot of people, Halloween has an image problem. And depending on how you read the constitution, it may also have a legal problem. This isn’t to say that people can’t go out on their own and have fun on the holiday.

But when Halloween enters the realm of government-sponsored activities and institutions, disputes do come up. These controversies most often occur in public schools. Some groups argue that public schools shouldn’t tolerate a holiday that seems to promote witchcraft, unless you think it slanders witchcraft, which some people do. In fact, some people actually believe Halloween celebrations at public schools may violate the church-state separation clause of the constitution.

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Guest

Dan Eaton , These Days legal analyst.